Stroke Counseling Intervention for Young Adult African Americans: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
• Health Disparities

Background:

• African Americans experience higher rates of early-onset stroke and worse outcomes compared to other groups.
• Younger African American adults are a critical demographic for stroke risk reduction interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the nurse-led Stroke Counseling for Risk Reduction (SCORRE) intervention.
• To reduce stroke risk in young African American adults by enhancing perceived stroke risk accuracy and promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors.
• To explore secondary outcomes including stroke knowledge, behavior change readiness, and perceived competence.

Main Methods:

• A two-arm randomized controlled trial involving 106 African American adults aged 20-35 years.
• Participants were randomized to either the SCORRE intervention or an attention-placebo control group (safe sex education).
• Data were collected at baseline, immediately post-intervention, and at 8 weeks, with multilevel models used for analysis.

Main Results:

• The SCORRE intervention group showed a significant increase in the accuracy of perceived stroke risk post-intervention compared to the control group.
• Participants in the intervention group demonstrated a greater improvement in perceived competence for healthy living and dietary habits at 8 weeks.
• No significant changes were observed in physical activity or other secondary outcomes.

Conclusions:

• The SCORRE intervention is a promising approach for mitigating stroke risk among young African American adults.
• Findings support further development of a larger, culturally tailored SCORRE trial to effectively reduce stroke risk in this population early in life.